


Just One Date, Volume 1

by digitaleva



Series: Just One Date [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-26 16:22:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3857167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitaleva/pseuds/digitaleva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a training session, a rumor starts floating around at Beacon.</p><p>Originally posted on fanfiction.net, this series is being ported over here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

“Oof!”

Jaune let out a sharp gasp when he fell on the ground.

“You aren’t focusing enough, Jaune. Your stance is still wrong. You stiffen up instead of loosening.”

As the blonde swordsman looked up, he ended up staring at the woman instructing him. He was still not sure why she would want to spend her free time after class tutoring him on combat. However, he had noticed that it was paying off to a degree. And he wasn’t going to stop just because he was falling down. As he stood up, he let out a sigh.

“Pyrrha, I just don’t think that this is working. I mean, sure, I’m getting better, but I’m not you. You… you’re perfect.”

The athlete blushed at this statement.

“No, Jaune. I’m not. I just have more practice under my belt. You just need the same.”

She shot him an optimistic smile and they both took up ready stances. After a few hits, blocks, and misses, Jaune’s shoelace had come undone and managed to get caught in Pyrrha’s leg armor, causing both of them to fall. Trying to save them both, Jaune managed to end up on the ground, with Pyrrha on top of him.

As he opened his eyes he made total eye contact with his sparring partner. And he noticed that she was staring back at them. As a blush slowly crept across both their faces, they made moves to get up at the same time and ended up in a slightly more compromising position, this time, they fell back and ended up in a kiss.

This caused both of them to turn bright red and quickly separate.

“Pyrrha, I… I…”

“Don’t worry about it, Jaune. It… it was an accident.”

The tone in the red head’s voice was both apologetic and sad at the same time. As she turned back around to face him, she realized that his face matched her own in terms of embarrassment.

Jaune was the first to make an attempt at a recovery.

“So… let’s… um… let’s call it… f-for tonight. Yeah. Sound good? We’ll call it done for the night?”

The redhead smiled back nervously and shook her head. They both headed back into their dorm to get some sleep. However, neither of them ended up sleeping very well.

The next day wasn’t any better. Other students were pointing and whispering. The only ones who acted like they didn’t know were the members of Team RWBY, and their own team mates.

“You two seem to be popular today,” Ren said as they entered the cafeteria to get breakfast.

“It’s almost like you two were caught doing something you shouldn’t have!”

Nora’s statement didn’t help matters. Especially since she said it about as loudly as she could have.

“Look, i-if you guys could just not bring it up, that’d be great.”

Jaune stumbled and fought for his words, almost as if he was grappling with the very concept of speaking. While some nervousness was normal for him, this was beyond even his normal levels.

Pyrrha was equally red and embarrassed. As she looked over to where Jaune was sitting, she noticed that his head was on the table.

“Please, Ren. I’m with our leader on this one. Just don’t bring it up.”

The conversation at the table returned to normal until Yang showed up.

“You guys would not believe what the other students are saying!”

This earned her a glare from both Pyrrha and Jaune.

“Oh. I guess… you… do… WAIT! IT’S TRUE!?”

Ruby turned to her sister.

“Yang, this isn’t the time or the place. So let’s just let them be for now.”

Even Weiss was supportive.

“Ruby’s right. We don’t need to be making this harder than we need to at this point. They are already embarrassed enough.”

Pyrrha mouthed a relieved “thank you” at Weiss. The two groups then finished their meals and headed off to class.

As they got out of their first classes though, it was apparent that they wouldn’t be able to escape the gossip trains for long.

Blake leaned in towards Pyrrha.

“Meet us in our dorm after classes are out for the day.”

Pyrrha nodded in affirmation of this, and they then went to their remaining classes.

Of course, they would have to sit through Doctor Oobleck’s class, which was, as usual, caffeine fueled, which meant that the students had time to talk.

“I heard that they are trying to expose lax policies in the school by having a sexual relationship!”

“I just heard that she was going for this all along!”

“You are both wrong! She only wants him for the sex. Once she’s had her fun, she’ll leave.”

Another student turned around.

“No way! I heard this was his plan from the beginning! He was sent here to ruin her reputation!”

Similar comments were made throughout the class. Of course, all parties involved were happy to escape the room as soon as class ended.

This whole thing continued throughout the rest of the day as well. There was seemingly no escaping it, all over campus.


	2. Into the Rumor Mill

After their classes, both teams headed towards the agreed on meeting place. Jaune and Pyrrha were naturally apprehensive about this, as they knew what it was all about, and would have to explain it to their friends and teammates.

As they arrived, Ruby opened the door and let everybody come in. After Blake had made sure that the windows were closed and locked, they all sat down. To the outsider, it would have looked odd, as there was a grand mix of people in the room, all looking to the two beet-faced individuals for an answer.

“So that’s all that happened.”

Pyrrha’s explanation had been infinitely tamer than the rumors going around campus. Which shocked everybody in the room. Yang and Nora were struggling to put it together in their heads, and Ren was holding his head in his hands.

“This isn’t right. They are doing the same thing that the media does to the Faunus.”

Everybody looked at Blake suddenly. It was Weiss who rushed to her defense.

“She’s right. We know Sun and Blake aren’t like the White Fang. The media likes a blanket picture. So they spread smear stories to make it seem like all of them are like that. So let’s just try to get this to die down.”

The ice queen then turned bright red as the outburst was the total opposite of what she had been saying before then.

“Weiss is right. And I think we all know who started this rumor.”

Everybody looked to Jaune for an answer this time.

“What!? What did I d…? Oh.”

As the realization spread onto everybody’s face, the answer was unanimous.

“CARDIN.”

“But what I don’t get is why he would do this.”

Ruby was slightly confused by the whole thing, as she had been present the day Jaune made the threat.

“He’s a bully, Ruby,” Blake said. “He isn’t about to change just because somebody told him to.”

Jaune slammed his fist into the ground.

“And I told him! I told him not to mess with me, my friends, or my teammates ever again! That bastard!”

Pyrrha reached out a hand and placed it on Jaune’s shoulder, causing the blonde to look over at her. She smirked at him and winked. Jaune’s eyes grew wide at this.

“I’ve g… well, actually… Pyrrha’s got a plan.”

The red-haired woman stood up and looked around the room.

“Here’s what we’re going to do…”

After about 5 minutes of explanation, mostly for the benefit of Yang and to prevent Nora from threatening leg breaking, she finished delivering her idea.

“Any further questions?”

“Nope. You said it all.”

Now, everybody in the room had a smirk.

Elsewhere on campus, Cardin was walking around with Sky.

“You think that they suspect?”

“Not. At. All. Jaune-y boy is over-due for some teasing anyways.”

“But if they figure it out, then we…”

“Relax, Sky. Nothing is going to happen. Not if they value their privacy.”

At this, Cardin pulled an envelope out and opened it. In it where various photos of Team JNPR, but mostly of Jaune and Pyrrha.

“Cardin, how the hell did you get those?”

Cardin chuckled. 

“It wasn’t hard. Not when they are always making fools of themselves.”

As the two walked past an arch, they were so busy with laughing that they failed to notice Sun standing there with his teammate.

“Sun… You don’t think…”

“You know exactly how I am thinking about this, Neptune. You got the camera?”

Neptune held up the device. As Sun snatched it, he leaped into the air.

“Be back in a flash!”

Neptune then headed off in the direction of the dorms. If Sun wasn’t going to speak up, then he was. Just how he was going to tell them was beyond him. But he was going to bring it to their attention. Realizing he didn’t know which room he was going to, he pulled out his Scroll and dialed Yang’s number.

Back in the dorms, Yang’s scroll began ringing. As the blonde brawler reached over to grab it, she accidentally hit the speaker button.

“’Oh please pick up…’”

“Neptune?”

“’Yes! Thank you!’”

Hearing an echo, Neptune posed a question.

“’Am I on speaker?’”

Yang looked down.

“Oops. Yeah. Sorry about…”

“’No! Don’t be. Are Jaune and Pyrrha there?’”

The confused pair looked over at Yang and nodded.

“Eeyup. Wassup?”

“’It’s Cardin. He has photos. Based on the description, embarrassing ones.’”

“And what are we supposed to do about that?”

Weiss was almost shouting.

“’I think Sun is… taking care of that. I hope.’”  
“What is he planning,” Blake asked.

“’Yo!’”

Suddenly, Sun’s voice was heard over the speaker.

“Sun,” Ruby asked, “What did you do?”

“’Easy! I just got us some counter ammunition!’”

Blake threw her hands into the air.

“That is sinking to their level! We’d be no better than them at that point!”

“’Relax! All I did was take photos of them with the evidence and an audio recording of the whole thing. They won’t have a leg to stand on if these get to the administration!’”

A calm fell on the whole room.

“’Hello? You guys still there?’”

Ren broke the silence.

“Meet us by the fountain tomorrow. We’ll see what you have and move from there.”

“’Gotcha. Right after class then?’”

“Exactly. I’ll have Nora being the lookout.”

“Oooooh! I can make the Sloth noise!”

“Nora, I’m still not sure that a sloth says ‘boop’.”

Everybody in the room began laughing at this. Everybody except Blake, who was slightly distracted.


	3. Trials and Errors

The next day, both teams met up with Sun and Neptune by the fountain. As promised, Nora was being their lookout, having figured out how to best perch on top of the statue and was doing her best to maintain watch while mumbling to herself.

“I’m not the hero Beacon Academy deserves. I’m the hero it needs.”

Of course, she wasn’t exactly quiet about it, so Ren facepalmed.

“I never should have taken her to see that movie.”

He then returned his attention to the matter at hand. Sun had an envelope in his hand containing all the information that they needed to take down Cardin. The question was not when, but if they should use it.

“You know how I feel on this,” Blake glared at Sun.

“I know! But it doesn’t hurt to have some backup.”

Jaune stepped forward.

“He’s right. A backup plan is never a bad thing. Just hold on to these until the point we tell you to get them to Ozpin. Ruby, you’re helping him with that.”

Ruby looked at Sun and they both nodded.

All that out of the way, the group decided to disperse, so Ren signaled Nora to come down. Of course, his choice of tool was poor, as he used a laser pointer he had borrowed from Yang. This resulted in Blake and Nora having a head-on collision as they both pounced at the offending red dot at the same time.

They went their separate ways, leaving Ruby and Sun to discuss their plans for safeguarding the information.

“So, Blake seemed…”

“Sun, this is not the time for that. How are we going to do this?”

“Easy! If there was one thing I have picked up on, it is that even the backup needs backup sometimes.”

He proceeded to produce a second envelope from his pocket.

“What… is this?”

“A copy of all the info. I’m no dummy. If we both have it, Cardin can’t stop us both. Right?”

“This is true. Unless he can split in two…”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon. Also, hide it. Now.”

Neptune’s interruption was well timed. Just as he finished speaking Cardin came around the corner, strutting around in his usual holier-than-thou fashion. Following close behind were his other team members.

Luckily, Ruby had plenty of places to hide her envelope, as there were pouches on her belt for holding extra clips for Crescent Rose. Sun shoved his in his back pocket. And not a moment too soon, as Cardin strutted past them, sneering at Sun as he did so.

Just as they were about to exhale in relief, he turned around to face Sun.

“One of these days, your kind won’t be welcome at Beacon. Just you wait!”

Sun chuckled and shouted back “And when that day comes, I’ll be laughing because it’ll be you with egg on your face!”

He laughed and walked away, leaving Cardin to fume.

“You know, antagonizing him may not be the best idea.”

“Neptune, buddy, you worry too much.”

Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha had wandered away from Ren and Nora, deciding that they needed to talk. It was going slowly as both of them were fumbling over words.

“Pyrrha… I… uh… You know that I… And that I…”

“Jaune, it’s not… no… that’s not what I want to say…”

Finally, reaching the edge of the cliff where the airships would dock, Jaune turned to Pyrrha.

“I can’t take this any longer. So I’m just going to say it. I’m sorry if I put you in any situations that you… weren’t comfortable with. I never meant to…”

The red-haired warrior put her finger up to his mouth, as a sign to stop talking.

“Jaune, you didn’t do anything wrong. It is obvious now that Cardin is behind this. The tripping and falling during training is all a part of practice. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

She stepped closer, blushing slightly.

“Besides, I… I…”

During this they were moving closer together, both blushing, but Jaune also sweating out of nervousness.

“Pyrrha, I…”

“Jaune, don’t worry about it so much.”

They finally closed the distance, and were moments away from what could have been seen as compromising, when Jaune suddenly panicked.

“Pyrrha, why don’t we… you know… go out and… uh... see a movie sometime? Just the two of us?”

“Jaune Arc. Are you asking me out?”

“If… if you wanna look at it like tha… yes. Yes I am.”

Pyrrha chuckled and smiled.

“I’d love to.”

Jaune relaxed his shoulders in relief.

“Oh good. I was worried you were… ya know… gonna…”

“Turn you down? Jaune, that isn’t going to happen. Relax.”

Feeling relieved at having gotten that off his chest, the blonde swordsman moved forward.

“How about we go back to the dorms? Ren and Nora are there waiting probably.”

“This is true. We shouldn’t keep them up too late.”

The pair headed back to dorms, where Nora and Ren were, indeed waiting for them.

“What kept you two?”  
Nora, who had seen them holding each other’s hands, got a huge grin on her face.

“HE FINALLY DID IT! YAHOO!”

“Nora, please calm down. I’m sure that there is a reason behind them returning so late.”

“And we’ll tell you both, but in time. For now, let’s just get to bed. It’s been… a long day.”

Pyrrha’s quick thinking had just saved Jaune from having to explain their whereabouts. As they all climbed into their respective beds, Pyrrha and Jaune exchanged a quick hug. As they pulled away, they looked into each other’s eyes.

“I’ll start looking for a movie time tomorrow. Saturday, right?”

“Sounds good, Jaune. Goodnight.”

“’Night.”

The two then went to their respective beds. Within moments of hitting the pillow, they were asleep.


	4. Plans

The next day, Jaune was sitting at his desk, the entertainment section of the newspaper in front of him.

“What’cha doin?”

Nora’s sudden statement caused him to jump.

“GYAH! NORA! N… Nothing.”

“You can’t fool me! I know what you are up to!”

“Y-you do?” the blonde stammered, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“You are looking for a movie!”

He let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t caught on to what was really going on. Which was good for him. The last thing he wanted was Nora knowing about his date with Pyrrha. She would certainly do something foolish with that information.

“Need a hand?”

“No thanks. Ruby offered to help me.”

Feeling slightly defeated, Nora skipped away.

“Alright! I’m off to find Ren.”

With her out of the way, Jaune got up and took the paper with him across the hall. He knocked on the door for team RWBY’s dorm, and was slightly shocked when it just opened.

He cautiously said “hello?” into the dark opening, and was relieved when Ruby stepped out to meet him.

“Hey Jaune. What’s up?”

“Ruby, I… I need…”

“Jaune, you’re going to have to say it or I can’t do anything.”

“I have a date with Pyrrha this Saturday and I have no idea what type of movies she likes, or even what her favorite foods are, or…”

“Jaune. Calm down. It’ll be fine. Let’s get to a desk so we can sort this out, okay?”

The petite scythe wielder shot him a smile and he calmed down.

“Thanks, Ruby. I’m new to this whole dating thing.”

“It’s going to be okay, Jaune. You can’t possibly screw it up. Now. What movies were you thinking?”

As they walked through the hallways, Jaune listed off several films that he had thought were interesting.

“Those all seem interesting, Jaune, but you need to pick one.”

“Oh,” Jaune hung his head in defeat. “I’ll never figure this one out.”

“You will. Let’s see here,” she reached over and grabbed the paper from his hand.

“Let’s see. Here we go! She might like this one!”

The blonde looked at the one she was pointing at.

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yup!”

“How do you know?”

“Yang and I went to see it last week.”

“Oh. Was it bad?”

“Nope.”

“Not even in the least?”

“Nope.”

“You’re not all that helpful on this, are you?”

“Nope.”  
“I’m trusting you on this one. Thanks, Ruby.”

“You’re welcome, Jaune.”

“Now for the fun part. Where to go for dinner?”

“That is up to you two.”

“Riiight.”

“Jaune, you can’t be worrying about this like it is the end of the world.”

“But what if I make a fool of myself? Then she’ll probably hate me.”

“Nope.”

“How do you know that? She’s probably waiting for me to screw it up.”

“Nope. You’ll be fine. Just do what you are going to do and it’ll all be fine.”

“Alright. Thanks again for your help.”

“Not a problem. Have fun on Saturday.”

Jaune looked at the paper and the area Ruby had circled. And he swallowed hard. Exhaling, he got up and walked off to find Pyrrha.

When he did, she was in the middle of a sparring match with Yang. Deciding to not interrupt, he sat down to watch. The two were in a league of their own. Almost blow for blow. He hadn’t even thought that it had been Yang who had suggested that she teach him grappling. But, seeing Pyrrha match the brawler blow for blow in unarmed combat was nothing short of impressive.

The two combatants soon ended their match and walked off laughing. The rest of the day, Jaune was lucky to find Pyrrha, much less get her attention. The day ended with him feeling confident that he had made a mistake.


	5. Out of Control, Part 1

Thursday came, and Jaune was no less worried. He spent a good chunk of the day focusing on his homework to try and take his mind off the fact that he was going on a date with the most popular girl in the whole school. He even started to participate in Oobleck’s history class.

“And so, in review, there is much we do not know about the Creatures of Grimm, despite the countless explorers who have documented their behaviors and movements.”

Jaune finished writing almost as soon as the caffeine-powered professor stopped talking. 

However, despite all of this, the rumors had not stopped. It was still circulating that he was trying to ruin Pyrrha’s reputation by bringing her down to his level, among other things. In fact, it was getting difficult to walk around the campus without somebody shooting a glare in his direction. And that was beginning to wear on him, as well as his team.

He was thankful that his next class was with Professor Goodwitch. She was a no-nonsense, no talking-type. He hoped that he could be safe there. However, he was stopped by their green-haired, bespectacled instructor.

“Mr. Arc! Might I have a work with you and Ms. Nikos?”

Jaune and Pyrrha sighed heavily and sat back down.

“Please, please. I’m not here to pry. Just to make sure that you are both doing alright.”

“Why would you ask that, Professor?”

The caffeine-junky adjusted his glasses.

“First, it is Doctor Oobleck. I didn’t get a doctorate for fun, you know. Second, I have not been deaf to the talk around campus. Is there… anything you two would like to tell me?”

Pyrrha sank in her chair, and Jaune gulped, but stood up.

“Yes. Pyrrha has been helping me with combat training. She doesn’t have to, but she does it. The sounds that people have been hearing are us sparring on an unused balcony. We wait until after hours to allow for other students to leave then we practice. It was her idea, not mine. She was only thinking that I’d be embarrassed. I took her up on the offer for help.”

“So there is nothing going on between you?”

As Oobleck raised an eyebrow, he leaned in closer to Jaune. The blonde began turning different shades of red until Pyrrha spoke up.

“We are going on a date this Saturday. I can assure you, sir. It will not affect our class performance in the least.”

Oobleck shot back to being upright again.

“Very well. I shall ensure that these rumors are investigated. If you have any information, any at all, that can help with this, it is most appreciated. That is all. Sorry to have delayed you. I shall take responsibility should Professor Goodwitch ask. You may go now.”

With a collective sigh of relief, the two students got up and left the room. As soon as they were gone, Oobleck turned around.

“Any thoughts, doctor?”

“I must be concerned for them. Mr. Arc has thrown himself headlong into my class, where he normally decides to nap. Headmaster, Might I suggest asking…”

“Bartholomew, relax for a moment. I have my suspicions as well. I shall be talking to the other students as well. As for that request you made: You may proceed. I think that both team RWBY and team JNPR will soon surpass what Glinda can instruct on in a class.”

“Yes. Still, it is concerning.”

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee.

“That it is. I’ll have the list of students I want to question soon. But you have a phone call to make.”

“Right.”

The two then exited via opposite doors on the lecture floor, each one heading towards his respective office.

Goodwitch’s class wasn’t much easier for the two members of JNPR. She put all the students through a physically exhaustive series of matches, many of which ended in defeat for Jaune. However, she was thrilled that he was improving, even if it was slightly. Once the class was over, all the students headed back to their respective dormitories, including Jaune and Pyrrha.

“This has NOT been a fun week,” the blonde sighed, overhearing more jeering from a female student.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Pyrrha responded, having shuddered from a catcalling male student.

“At least there is Saturday. Right?”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

With that affirmation, both headed back to their room, where Ren was waiting with a barely conscious Ruby.

“We need to talk. The situation has gotten worse.”

~Earlier that day~

Ruby hit the ground hard. What had hit her, she couldn’t tell at first. As she shook the blurriness from her head, she could make out a familiar silhouette.

“Listen, you little brat. Either you give me what I want, or I will end you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Listen here… Ruby, was it? Either you give me the information that the monkey freak gave you, or I pummel you into oblivion here and now.”

“Cardin, what is your proble.. WOAH!”

The scythe wielder was cut off when Cardin signaled Thrush to run at her and hoist her into the air.

“Give us the information.”

“What is your problem with Jaune?”

“My problem?” Cardin jeered. “My problem is that he is weak, pathetic and, let’s face it, too much fun to mess with. And you, missy, are in my way.”

He snapped his fingers and Sky jumped up and delivered a roundhouse kick to Ruby’s head, knocking her out.

Thrush and Cardin then moved in to pummel the unconscious girl some more, but they were interrupted by multiple shots ringing out and barely missing them. They whirled around to see Ren and Blake running towards them.

“So not worth this. Come on, guys.” Cardin sighed, waving his hand. The group then made a swift retreat.

“Blake, get her to our dorm. Quickly.”

The female Faunus nodded and scooped up her teammate.


	6. Out of Control, Part 2

“Did he get the information?”

“Thankfully, Ruby didn’t have it on her. It was in the room. With me.” Blake’s assurances calmed the pair, but only slightly.

Jaune’s hands were clenched into fists. From his expression, you could tell that his anger was boiling over.

“I made him promise. And he swore. He swore that he would never mess with my team and my friends ever again.”

“Jaune…”

“No, Pyrrha. This is the last straw. How many of our friends have to get hurt before this gets to the headmaster? Ozpin needs to know.”

“I believe I’ve heard enough to know what is going on.”

The whole group turned around as Ozpin finished speaking. He stood in the doorway, as stoic as ever, and took a sip of his never-empty coffee mug before stepping into the room.

“From my understanding, there is some information that Mr. Winchester wants. And, seeing the lengths he is willing to go to in an effort to obtain said information, it would seem to be fairly damning.”

“Professor, it has to do with the rumors circulating the campus.”

“The rumors?”

“About me and Pyrrha.”

“Ah. Yes. Those. I was aware that Cardin has had a problem with you in the past, but I simply had shrugged it off. Now I can see that I was wrong to do so. My apologies for that.”

By this point, Ruby was sitting up.

“The information he wants… I… I made Blake hide it. Sorry.”

“Not to worry, Ruby. I knew that something was amiss. Now, if Ms. Belladonna would be so kind.”

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

As Blake left the room, Ozpin turned to Jaune and Pyrrha.

“If anything like this happens again, I am expecting you to come to me straight away, understood? I will not stand for this childish nonsense on my campus.”

“Y-yes... yessir!”

Jaune snapped to attention, followed by an apology from Pyrrha.

“Now now. Don’t apologize for it. Neither or you could predict the level of depravity Mr. Winchester would sink to. Just be more diligent in the future is all I’m asking, alright?”

“Of course, Professor.”

And, Ms. Nikos, I wish both you and Mr. Arc well on Saturday. But you should get to bed. I understand that Professor Port has a lesson for you all tomorrow that should be quite interesting.”

Having said his piece, he turned and exited the room. As he closed the door, Blake was waiting for him.

“And this is all of it?”

“Yes. If you should need anything else, talk to Sun.”

“Of course. Thank you, Blake.”

“You’re welcome.”

The gunblade user then turned and went back into her dorm and shut to door. As soon as it clicked, she sighed, and removed the bow that was almost always on her head.

“He’s right, you know.”

She stiffened and whipped around at the sound.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Sun. He is right. You do look better without the bow.”

“All the same, Weiss, I’d prefer to keep it on out in public.”  
“Fair enough,” was all the heiress said before she headed off to bed.

Blake walked into the shared bathroom and looked in the mirror. She then sighed and headed to her own bed.

Back in Team JNPR’s dorm room, Pyrrha was setting up a spare cot. Jaune had volunteered to sleep on the floor so that Ruby wouldn’t have to move out of the bed she was in, as the younger girl had fallen asleep.

“Jaune, I would let you share my bed with me.”

“No, Pyrrha. I… I’ll sleep on the floor. It’s fine. Besides, I feel responsible for things getting this out of hand.”

“At least use the cot that Ren bought for that camping trip he and Nora never took.”

“I agree. Go ahead.”

Jaune looked at his team mates and realized that he had never felt this close to people in the past. He smiled a little.

“Thanks. Both of you.”

With the cot set up, they all climbed into their beds and fell into an uneasy sleep. The whole time, they knew that Cardin could be just outside the window. At some point during the night, they stopped worrying and actually fell asleep.


	7. Friday

As Ruby opened her eyes, she looked around. Instead of seeing Blake and Yang, she saw Pyrrha and Nora asleep. It was then than she remembered the previous day. It all came back at once. Being cornered by Cardin. Getting the pounding of her life from his team. Even Ozpin showing up.

She shook her head. She must have dreamed that last part. Ozpin didn’t visit the student dormitories. But she was certain that he had. Especially once she heard the announcement over the PA.

‘Would the following students report to the headmaster’s office:  
Ruby Rose  
Lie Ren  
Sun Wu-Kong  
Blake Belladonna  
That is all. Thank you.’

Standing up, she felt momentarily dizzy. She reached out a hand and grabbed onto the first thing she could.

“Are you alright?”

She looked over to see Ren holding his arm out. Shaking her head some more, she nodded.

“I should be fine. I hope.”

“Alright. Let’s head to Ozpin’s office. I’m assuming you know the way?”

“Yes. And Ren?”

The martial artist looked down at her.

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

They headed into the hallway where they met up with Blake.

“Any idea what we are heading up there for?”

Blake put her hand on her chin for a moment then removed it.

“Probably to do with the whole situation with Cardin.”

“Oh yeah! That’s right! Gotta give him this!”

The trio jumped momentarily at Sun’s sudden appearance. As they settled down, Blake shot him a look that screamed “do that again, and I’ll kill you”.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. Just figured you’d know the way.”

“How’d you know which hallway we were in?”

Ren’s question was more than warranted. None of them had told the monkey-type Faunus where their dorms were.

“Jaune let me know. Just in case. That’s all.”

Feeling satisfied with his answer, the four set out for Ozpin’s office.

Across campus, an airship from the Vale Police was arriving. On it were two detectives.

“They really don’t pay us enough for this crap.”

“Just shut it and get ready. I guess we got 4 today.”

“But they’re just kids.”

“Doesn’t matter. Orders is orders.”

Up in his office, Ozpin was sitting in his chair. He was in a conference call.

“Listen. Ozpin. I told you I’m no teacher.”

“I know that. But I am asking out of necessity.”

“And I’m only agreeing because I owe the good doctor a favor. Got that?”

“Of course. I look forward to your arrival. Just send a message when you’ll be arriving.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”

As the person on the other end hung up, the silver-haired man swiveled in his chair. He took a sip of his coffee and stood up. This was going to be an interesting day for him. He was shaken from his thoughts by a knock on his door.

“Come in.”

One by one, Ruby, Ren, Blake, and Sun filed in.

“You wanted to see us, boss?”

While Sun’s tone was slightly disrespectful, he didn’t mean it to be. Of course, Blake knew this, as well as Ruby. Ren was slightly taken aback by it.

“Yes. I just wanted you to know that we questioned all of Team CRDL. They admitted to the whole thing. As of this moment, they are expelled.”

“Professor, what is the reason for the police airship?”

“We take many situations very seriously here. Physical assault is one that we will not simply sweep under the rug. And Ruby, you have my apologies for that.”

“Don’t worry about it, Professor. I have had worse.”

“I’m sure you have. As I am sure you are all aware, I would like you to report matters like this sooner. However, your actions have shown that you were looking out for your friends. In the future, though, please think more thoroughly before deciding on a plan on action.”

All four looked at the ground.

“But you did admirably for what was going on. Staying loyal to your friends under pressure is no easy task.”

He turned around to face the window.

“You may go now. Have a good day.”

As soon as the quartet had left, he dialed in the PA once again.

‘Due to pressing circumstances, classes today are cancelled. All students may do as they would on the weekend, but please stay on campus.’

Jaune was just waking up as the announcement was made. He was thankful for the cot, but he was still worried as he was certain he had noticed a police airship dock. Just as he was getting ready to leave the room, Ren came back.

“We have today off,” the gunslinger said.

“Oh. Wanna go see Port for practice?”

“Maybe. Let’s get something to eat first.”

“Good idea. Oh! How’s Ruby?”

“She’s doing fine. We just spoke with Ozpin.”

Jaune hung his head. “We’re dead.”

“Quite the opposite. Team CRDL is expelled. They should be leaving with the police soon. Ruby’s assault was the last straw for them.”

“Woah. He doesn’t mess around.”

Pyrrha was just waking up as the two finished their talk.

“I haven’t slept like that in a long time.”

“Glad to hear that you got enough sleep.”

“Thank you. How is…”

“Ruby? She’s fine. We were just gonna go get something to eat. You in?”

“Sounds good.”

Once they were all dressed, they left the room and entered the hallway. Ruby was changed into her school uniform and was waiting for them.

“I’m so hungry…”

“Then let’s get down there.”

The growing group headed out of the dorms and into the cafeteria. The atmosphere was far tenser than it had ever been. They got their meals and sat at their usual table. On the way there, they overheard a couple of the students whispering about what happened with Cardin and his “team”.

“Guess that’ll teach him.”

“No kidding. I knew he was a jerk, but I didn’t ever expect him to do that.”

“Glad he’s gone.”

“You nuts? He was the only thing standing between us and a Faunus invasion.”

As they reached their table, they found it difficult to eat. After everything that had happened, they were still there. And they had been given front row seats for the whole thing.

The rest of the day went by quietly and without incident. Professor Port was more than willing to give both teams his lecture on the lives of Nevermores, and it even included a chance to study a skeleton up close. Of course, the spine had a rather interesting wound in it. A wound from a scythe.

They all left the lecture with instructions to turn in a paper the following morning on the information that they had gleaned from the corpse. Of course, they all knew where the school had obtained it.

“So, Ruby, how does it feel seeing your first kill?”

“Come on, Yang. It wasn’t my “first”. 

Yang’s face lit up when she remembered something. “Oh yeah. That’s right. They train you on small Beowolfs at Signal, don’t they?”

“Yup!”

“Still, you had never faced anything like that Nevermore prior to coming to Beacon, right?”

“That’s right. Of course, I never would have thought that it would be here. I just did what was necessary.”

“Of course, this skeletal reconstruction is only a guess. The Grimm fade away too quickly for study,” Port concluded.

Outside of Vale, a man was walking. He had made a long trek from Vacuo to a small village north of Vale, then decided to walk into town. For him, it was sort of a homecoming. However, he wasn’t entirely sure as to the reason.


	8. Date Night (Volume 1 Finale)

Saturday dawned bright as ever. Of course, Jaune woke with his stomach in a knot. He wasn’t exactly sure how well it would go that night on his date with Pyrrha. Despite him having been told by Ruby that he’d be fine, he was still shaking slightly.

“Jaune, are you alright?”

Pyrrha startled him slightly as they sat at the cafeteria table. She had seen him nervous before, so she wanted to make sure he was alright.

“Y-yeah. W-Why do you ask?”

“It’s about tonight, isn’t it?”

He relaxed, seeing that she was blushing slightly.

“Yeah,” his shoulders drooped as he said this. “I just don’t want to let you down.”

“Jaune, you could never do that. Trust me.”

He perked up slightly at this. This was why he had fallen for her in the first place. She was always so kind, even to those who probably didn’t deserve it.

“Alright. So, I have the movie tickets, and those are for 9. I also made reservations at a restaurant for dinner before that. I didn’t even think to ask what kind of food you like. So I made a guess. And then there were the arrangements for the airship, and…”

“Sounds like fun. I’ll meet you at the dock at 5 then?”

The blonde swallowed hard. “Yeah. See you then.”

Pyrrha then got up and left to meet up with Blake. They were going to practice for the day. Jaune looked over at Ren.

“Help.”

“You didn’t mention casual dress, did you?”

The swordsman shook his head.  
“Alright. I’ll give you a hand. Let’s get you into a suit.”

The two then got up and headed towards their dorm room, where Ren would spend the next few hours helping Jaune prepare mentally for the date. At one point, Yang showed up, and she was immediately drafted to stand in for Pyrrha.

“Jaune, just be yourself. She isn’t in this for an act.”

“I know, I just…”

“Listen, Jaune, from a woman’s perspective, honesty is better than a lie. No offense, Ren.”

Ren crossed his arms. “Very funny, Yang.”

“Seriously though. Just be you.”

“Alright. But what if I make a…”

“Mistake? Jaune, you’ll be fine. Just don’t vomit.”

“You aren’t gonna let that one go, are you?”

“Sorry, Captain Upchuck, but no.”

Ren then walked away, leaving the two blondes to their conversation. As he wandered the halls, he ran into Nora.

“So, seeing as how it is Saturday, I thought that you, Jaune, Pyrrha, and I could…”

“Nora…”

“…go out on the town and do stuff…”

“Nora…”

“…you know, like being mallrats!”

“Nora!”

“Yes, Ren?”

“Jaune and Pyrrha have plans for tonight.”

The orange haired fighter’s eyes widened.

“And they didn’t invite us?! How rude!”

“Nora, I’m pretty sure that this is a date.”

“Oooooooooh. Gotcha. Should we let them have their time then?”

“That was why I was coming to find you. Team RWBY asked me to join them for a movie night. Figured you might like their choices as well, so…”

“Sure thing, Ren. It’s a date! Well, not a date date, even though we’ll be going together, but not together together.”

Ren chuckled slightly at this. Deep down, he had feelings for Nora, but he wasn’t sure how to tell her exactly. He was shocked Jaune had worked up the courage to ask Pyrrha out. For the longest time, he had seen the two of them look at each other as if they wanted to ask that one question but were never sure how to do it. Now that was done and over with, it was only a matter of him asking Nora out on a date. But he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by asking the wrong way. He knew that her independence meant the world to her.

“Alright. Meet me by their room around 6. They are starting early. Something about pizza being delivered.”

Down on the training field, Blake and Pyrrha were in a heated sparring session. For every shot that one would get off, the other would match it. After about 4 hours of training, they decided to call it for the night so that Pyrrha could have time to wind down a little and Blake could head up and help Weiss set up for the movie night. As they approached the dorms, they saw something that they thought they would never see: Yang, holding Jaune upside down, running all over his suit with a lint roller.

The blonde male was slightly uncomfortable about it, but he was tolerating it to make sure everything was perfect for his date.

“Yang, are you sure that…”

“Oh yeah, Vomit Boy. It is. Also,” she put him down. “Take one of these 30 minutes before you get on the airship.”

She handed him a couple of pills.

“What are these?”

“They’re for airsickness. They’ll help. Trust me.”

“Thanks,” he said sheepishly.

Deciding to take the back way, Blake and Pyrrha took their time to laugh at what they had just seen. As they reached their rooms, they nodded and entered.

Blake was shocked to see that their room had been turned into a pseudo movie theater. Weiss had moved a couple chairs in, and had even managed to rearrange the desks to get them out of the way for the projector. There was a stack of DVDs and Blu-ray on the desk with it.

“Weiss, I thought that…”

“Sorry. Ruby was here so we got started early. No offense.”

“None taken. I invited Ren earlier. He’s probably bringing Nora. Just to keep her out of the Pyrrha’s hair.”

“Those two are finally going to go out? It’s about time.”

“Yeah. I’m just happy for them. They need this after the hellish week they just went through.”

The gunblade slinger could tell something was wrong with her team mate.

“Weiss, what’s wrong?”

“I just wanted to be able to talk to you for a bit.”

“Okay.”

“Alone.”

“Weiss, we are alone. I saw Ruby leave to go find Yang.”

“Oh good. Blake, I think I…”

“You think you what?”

“I’m thinking about asking Ruby…”

Blake’s eyes grew wide. She knew that the one thing Yang was more protective of than her hair was her sister. Anybody who had previously tried to ask Ruby out had been met with a knuckle crack and an evil grin. And she had no reason to believe that Weiss would be any different.

“Just be careful how you do it. You know how Yang is about her sister. Especially after Thursday.”

“I know. I just…”

“It’s alright. I think that Yang asked Neptune the other day. Or was it he asked her? Either way. I just hope for the best for you. As a friend.”

“Thanks, Blake. Now. When are you going to ask Sun?”

“When I’m good and ready. That’s when.”

Weiss backed off of that line of questioning at this point. She knew it was touchy for Blake. After the incident at the docks, Blake had confided in her about the last person she had dated, Adam. It had been because of him that she quit the White Fang, having believed him dead after a raid. She didn’t want to help any more after that.

“Just when you do, please let me know. I was thinking about a double date.”

“Sure thing. They should be here soon.”

Outside, at the airship dock, Jaune was sitting on a bench nervously twiddling his thumbs. What if he made a mistake? No. Yang and Ren had told him just to live in the moment for tonight. Which made him wonder about when Ren was going to come clean to Nora. He knew that his friend was stoic, but this was taking on a new level of ridiculousness. It was almost like Ren was defeated every time he heard Nora say “but not together”. In a way, it hurt him to see and hear that.

He was so lost in thought, that he didn’t even hear Pyrrha walk up.

“Jaune?”

He jumped slightly, having been shaken out of his thoughts. As he looked up, his eyes grew wide. He had seen Pyrrha in a dress before, but he still couldn’t get over how gorgeous she was. He looked down at his own, plain black suit and then back up at his date’s stunning green dress, which matched her eyes. In the dimming light, he noticed that the fabric shimmered slightly. Her hair, which was normally held up in a ponytail and a headpiece was clipped back and hanging down in back, where it was held in by a looser ponytail at the base of her head.

“A-Are… Y-you…”

As he stammered to get the right words, she giggled slightly. She knew it had taken a lot of courage for him to ask her out. But the stammering was one of the qualities that she had found endearing about him.

“You look gorgeous,” he finally managed to choke out.

“Thank you. We don’t want to miss the airship.”

“R-right. Shall we?”

Jaune nervously extended his arm towards Pyrrha who wrapped her own arm around it.

“Yes.”

They boarded the airship and headed into town. Mentally, the sword fighter made a note to thank Yang for the pills, as the medication was working. Upon their arrival in town, he led the way to the restaurant he had made the reservations for.

Throughout their meal, the two made small talk and generally had a good time. After they finished, Jaune paid their bill, tipped the waiter and they left for the movie. As they approached the theater, they were stopped by a man in a hooded jacket.

“Which way to Beacon?”

“The next airship leaves in a couple hours. East Pad.”

“Any reason you want to know?”

“Ozpin is expecting me.”

“Oh. Alright. See you then.”

As they watched him walk away, the noticed that had had an oddly shaped item wrapped up and slung over his shoulder. And he walked in a way that would have indicated a prior injury. Or he was just tired. They couldn’t exactly tell.

Shrugging it off, they went back to their night.

“So, Jaune, what movie are we seeing?”

“I wasn’t sure, so I asked Ruby for help.”

“And she chose?”

“That new vampire movie.”

“I have wanted to see that.”

“Really? I wasn’t sure you’d like it.”

“It looks to be different than the typical fare.”

“Oh. Okay.”

They entered the theater, and Jaune handed their tickets over to the guy at the front. They bought their popcorn and headed to the auditorium. As they sat down, they were shocked to see so few people in the room. He had heard good things about the film from other students, so he had assumed it would be more popular.

“Kinda empty in here…”

“Yes. But it is Saturday. Many of the people who would normally be in here are re-stocking their stores or taking care of things at home.”

“Oh yeah. You’re right.”

The film started and they were both transfixed. The shared popcorn was soon forgotten as neither one could take their eyes off the film. Of course, there were moments where Jaune got slightly queasy, but that was only during long, arching aerial shots. He held it in for Pyrrha’s sake.

As the film finished, the two walked out, their conversation resuming about the film.

“And then when he…”

“And the way he got the powers!”

“And his wife at the end!”

“Jaune, this was an amazing night. Thank you.”

The leader of Team JNPR blushed at the compliment.

“Y-you made it amazing, Pyrrha.”

The couple made their way towards the airship. As they neared the dock, they saw the man from earlier, but his hood was down. A wild head of hair blew in the breeze and he reached up every now and again to brush an errant strand out of his face.

As he turned around, he recognized them.

“Well now! If it isn’t two from Beacon. A little late to be out, isn’t it?”

“It’s Saturday night. We don’t have class in the morning. We’re fine.”

Pyrrha’s comment was sudden and initially came off as slightly rude.

“Alright. I didn’t mean any offense by it.”

“I-it’s alright. So, you said you were coming to talk to Ozpin about stuff, right?”

“Yup. What he wants from me, I don’t know.”

“In any case, welcome to Beacon. I’m Jaune.”

“A pleasure.”

“And I’m Pyrrha.”

“Ah yes. The local celebrity.”

“And you are?”

Jaune looked at the man with a quizzical expression.

“An old friend of Doctor Oobleck. And that is all I’ll say for now.”

They boarded the airship and it took off for the school.

Across town, a small group was meeting in a warehouse. It looked to be two women and a man.

“What do you mean the plants didn’t get it right?”

The first woman was slightly upset at the news of Cardin’s arrest and expulsion from Beacon.

“They decided it was better to attack Qrow’s niece than follow the plan,” the man answered.

“Why did we even bother with those four?”

“We needed a distraction. I figured that they would work,” the third person said, the confidence in her voice wavering.

“Well,” the first said, “we will need to re-think our plans.”


	9. Follow Up

The days immediately following the date were slightly hellish, as the rumors flew that Pyrrha was now pregnant. Ozpin, Oobleck, and Glynda did their best to help the resident power couple, but there was very little that could be done. The words and ideas Cardin had planted prior to his arrest were rooted into the student consciousness so deeply that there was no way to determine where the rumor ended and the truth began.

Jaune and Pyrrha had seen the guy they bumped into in town wandering around the campus every now and again, but they didn’t think he would be there forever. They figured he was just a Huntsman who had been sent to ensure that the campus was protected, and he would soon leave.

He had since removed his hood, but he hadn’t shaved his beard, so, coupled with his outer garb, and the hair, many people were calling him the Solid Blade Jedi. Every time he heard this, the man would stop, smile slightly, wave, and then continue wandering aimlessly.

Life in the dorms was hardly quiet though, as Jaune and Pyrrha were heading to a new level of cute with their new relationship status. Yang dreaded bringing boys back. But she had started dating Neptune. The be-goggled teen had given up on dating Weiss and even called it off when he heard her talking, well, more or less arguing with her father on the phone.

~The previous weekend~

“No! I will not!”

“Weiss Schnee! I am your father! You will remove these notions from your head this instant!”

“No. Why don’t you trust me in this!?”

“The last time I trusted you, you marred your face and cost us a major merger! So no! I do not trust you with that… that… common blood floozy!”

“If that is how you are going to be, father, don’t expect another call from me.”

“I don’t ever expect you to call. Why would I want my shame calling me? Your sister is coming. If we speak again, I do not want to hear any more of that girl.”

The call came to an abrupt end, the screen in the CCT blacking out as Weiss stood and stormed out of the building. She was not alone in having heard her father’s comments, as they had more or less been screamed at her. Many people knew she didn’t like her father’s business ideals, and that she was talked about in meetings as ‘that other child’, but they didn’t know that he had that much disdain for his own daughter.  
Weiss reached down as her scroll rang, the tone indicating a message had come through.

[=Weiss, I’m sorry. He doesn’t like anything that is different.=]  
[=He is mad at me now as well.=]  
[=I told him I wouldn’t be taking over the company.=]  
[=Hope to hear from you at some point.=]  
[=-Winter=]

As she closed the device again, she sighed. At least her sister understood some of the pain she was going through. As the heiress returned to the dorms, she headed straight for the bathroom, turned on the shower and let the steam fill the room as she stood in front of the mirror. She ran a finger down the scar that started on her forehead and ended part way down her cheek. It was the only imperfection she had. And she fully remembered the day she had gotten it.

She remembered her father losing his temper and storming out of the room as her arranged marriage to another family for land fell through when her “fiancé” had learned that she would have scar and backed out. She raised a hand to touch her cheek, as the memory of the pain from being slapped by her father that day flooded back to her.

She had thought about killing herself, but she knew that she would find a way to continue. A new reason to live. She wasn’t about to destroy that and give her father the pleasure of what he really wanted, which was her death. It wouldn’t happen. Not as long as she was alive.

~Present Day~

Weiss was again standing in front of the mirror. The action had become so ingrained to her daily routine, she couldn’t think of anything other than that when she did it. She did have some solace today though. She had spoken with her grandfather. He had encouraged her to go along her own path, and had even paid to have her trained to fight and better her combat skills. She knew that he understood that family is more important than money, so she was confident that she had one ally.

She was just turning around as Yang entered the room, shedding clothing as she did so. The blonde was seemingly oblivious to anybody else as she tossed clothing item after clothing item on the floor haphazardly. Weiss managed to avoid everything until the blonde’s shirt managed, through a strange bit of acrobatics, to land on her head. She took it off of its perch, and dropped it to the floor before heading out into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written after the fact for a massive, compiled version. Three chapters were added to the story in the long run, with each new one adding to the story in some way, shape, or form. Additionally, I have been posting the extended cuts of these chapters on here, as I was not posting them elsewhere. Enjoy the bonus content!


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